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NEW NORMAL

THREE CZECH VOICES

Jakub Přibyl
A co-owner of the Wine & Degu wine bar. Semifinalist of
the European Championship of Sommeliers 2017, holder of
the prestigious title Court of Masters Sommelier: Advanced
Sommelier, 4x best sommelier in the Czech Republic
(2011-2014), contributor to professional wine magazines,
international wine judge.
WINE & DEGU
possibility to personally „explain“ to clients
I think a lot of people are turning to predic- that the product is really a top product, even if
tions right now as something to show them they do not immediately perceive it.
the way. It is true that the best deal is done by the
I am not a big supporter of this thinking but person themselves but sales cooperation
I understand that constant uncertainty also could be the key here. Many small winemakers
does not do any good. I would like to say that do not have e-shops and the price of trans-
I think it would be difficult to find a parallel to port almost reaches the price of the wine.
the wine trade in any other, albeit related, busi- Once every two weeks, the winemaker goes to
ness. Wine combines a long history, social life, the capital in his van and that is not enough.
art, investment trade and gastronomy much The client must have easy access to the or-
more than any other drink and this complexi- der. Creating a broader platform for winegro-
ty will definitely remain in wine in the future. wers to work together, whether on the basis
Therefore, in my opinion, the development of of geographical origin, a wine association or
the wine trade will go its own way. a business trust with a strong distributor, even
I see the way for any winemaker in the way from among importers, will be a great advan-
of quality, much more than ever. I don‘t mean tage. I see the strengthening of logistics and
high prices; I mean really focusing on the top the reduction of waiting times as being of key
product. importance. These are weapons that wine im-
There may not be that much money in cir- porters have long had.
culation for some time and the purchasing po- I think that almost everything we are expe-
wer will decrease but all the more people will riencing now is only temporary. Viral pande-
be looking for the perfect experience that only mics have appeared and disappeared several
top-quality wine can convey. Maybe it will be times in history and I expect it to be the same
only once a week, maybe once a month but case now. People will then gradually return to
clients will now even more strictly refuse a se- „standard“ social life. Only things that proved
cond meeting with wine, which disappointed to be working well will remain. Simplified or-
them. ders, a wide selection, the comfort of home. It
Objectively the high quality of wine is also will not be a complete return to what we were
important because the world of wine has mo- used to but the NEW NORMAL will be very clo-
ved to the digital environment and there is no se to it. ƅ

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